Deep Snow: A Sequel To "Shallow Rain"
by NeuroticHalfPipe
Summary: The duo is back, as Detective Hermione Granger and Parvati Weasley discover there was more to the last mystery. But can Hermione handle all of it with more on the line?
1. A Stuck Case

Disclaimer: Most characters belong to J.K. Rowling in the exception of a few originals. Original plot and places are mine, things that have been mentioned in the books, are Rowling's. This was not not meant to infringe on any copyrights, if I have done so, please notify me right away. Thank you.

**Chapter One- A Stuck Case**

I could feel the steam of my coffee graze up against my nose, warming it to the tip. There I sat, in a cold coffee house on Broad Street, just a black away from my office. Only a few people filled the shop. In the corner sat a young man with a cup of coffee and a large newspaper. I stared awkwardly at the headlines, reading something of a muggle war. In another booth, an old lady with some sort of iced blend tapped her fingers in a slow motion on the shiny glass table.

Winter approached again us again, rain and snow beginning to start up again. I couldn't help but wish it was still fall, for I loved trees loosing their leaves, and turning all different colors. Change, change is always good.

Exiting the coffee shop, I glanced up and down the street for any cars. When there was none, I started to sprint across the wide road. A few sprinkles of snow were falling at the time, so I hugged my coat tightly to my body. I walked down the street slowly, heading towards my office, so I could get back to work. Turning to corner, I bumped shoulders with someone who seemed to be looking at a small stand.

"Sorry," I said, turning around the walk on, but the stranger grabbed my arm and twisted me back.

"Granger?" Cho Chang asked just as surprised as I was.

"Chang?" I exclaimed. Cho, the head of the detective department at the Ministry of Magic, was a not only my friend, but my boss.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, quite shocked to see my boss hanging around the old office.

"Got a call, someone saw something strange happen around here. Just scoping the place out," she whispered.

"I see, doing the old detective thing?" I smirked.

"Well, I am a detective, Granger," she said, grinning.

"Yeah, but the trick is not to act like one."

"Good idea." She pulled her hands from her pockets and strolled away, looking like an everyday shopper. I chuckled, and started for my office once more. I could hardly believe Harry had had a crush on her when we were younger, must have not known the real her. Well, the truth was, Cho was a really nice person, and a great detective at that. I must have been a bit jealous.

I slipped my key into the old run-down building, and opened the door to a nicely furnished, office building. Just a year ago, it had been a huge mess. But I had taken the advice of a good "friend", Lavender Brown, and cleaned it up, then I took her to jail.

I laughed, thinking of all the stupid stuff Parvati and I had gone about last year was quite amusing. Little did we know, that through all our investigation, lay a bigger mystery. I sighed, as I sat down and glanced at the photo frame holding a picture of the Weasley family, with Percy standing in the center of it, his Prefect badge glowing. I couldn't help but cry. It had only been a ear since he was murdered, and no one still knew who did it. The memories came back to me, and I cried even more. What happened that week back in December was still a mystery, and being a detective myself and the best one, as Parvati had so kindly put it, it was my job to solve it.

I groaned, I really didn't feel like working on the case that day. I was tired and sick of my job, but I had to do it, for the Weasleys.

Just then, a large barn owl flew into the window, carrying a small letter tied to his feet. I smiled, must be from Parvati, as it was her owl that delivered it. I untied the note and gave some of Jasper's feed to the old owl.

_Dear Hermione,_

_ How are you doing? I haven't talked to you for a couple weeks. I know you're still busy with the case and all, and we're all grateful that you're doing this for us. George and I are doing just fine. Ron is living at the Burrow, but he's been so preoccupied with work, that I haven't seen him lately. Molly says to sleep well, and make sure that you spend as much time on your personal life, rather then the case. We all want to thank you. I'd love to have you over for tea sometime, if you're not to busy._

_Your good friend,  
Parvati Weasley_

I smiled, and slipped the letter into my desk drawer and quickly wrote back.

_Dear Par,_

_ I'd love to come over for tea sometime. Tell Molly I'm getting enough sleep in, so don't worry. I'm sad to say I've been stuck for awhile. It seems this case doesn't have an answer. I might have to stop for awhile until I get further information. Oh, but don't tell the others that, it will just break their hearts, and they don't need anymore of that at a time like this. Good to talk to you._

_Love,  
Hermione Granger_

I tied the note to Parvati's owl, after letting him finish his meal, and pushed him out the window. He stumbled, and flew up out of sight on his way to the Burrow. I stared out my window, watching the muggle children play outside in the light blanket of snow. I could here bells ringing, music playing, laughter and joy... all reminding me about the holdiays to come. Pretty soon, it would be the first year anniversary of Percy's death, and how the case all started.

There were no new clues on Percy's case, nor any other case for me to work on at the moment, so I tucked away the files, and apariated to Ginny's apartment building. I climbed the few steps to her home, and knocked on the door. A few moments later, she came rushing to greet me.

"Hermione!" she exclaimed, opening the door to hug me.

"Hey," I said, entering to get warm.

"What brings you here?" she asked, pulling out a tea tray.

"Oh don't bother, can't stay for long," I told her, motioning for her to put the tea tray away.

"Oh okay, if you're sure," she said, returning to me.

"Anyways, can I ask a favor of you?" I said, reaching in my coat pocket.

"Sure," she replied.

"I need you to give this to Draco, the next time you see him. It's very important, that's why I want it hand delivered. Thank you so much!" I exclaimed, handing her the small letter.

"Anytime," she smiled, tucking the letter under a small glass paperweight on her desk. I grinned, and left. The sun was setting, and I didn't feel like going back to the office, so I apariated home, to my comfortable fireplace. I lay beside the flames, thinking of what I could do to help the case move along, but I could think of nothing, at least not yet.


	2. More Pointless Investigation

Disclaimer: Most characters belong to J.K. Rowling in the exception of a few originals. Original plot and places are mine, things that have been mentioned in the books, are Rowling's. This was not not meant to infringe on any copyrights, if I have done so, please notify me right away. Thank you.

**Chapter Two- More Pointless Investigation**

The next morning, I woke up next to my fireplace, still wearing the work robes I had worn the day before. I got up and changed into a nice, ironed set for my meeting with the MoM that day. Ever since last Christmas, I had been regularly attending Cho's meetings once a week. I pulled out my new brief case, that Ron had given me for my birthday because he was sick of seeing me carrying a bunch of loose papers around, and stuffed some of the latest files into it.

The MoM greeted me as I entered the headquarters.

"Oh, Hermione..." someone said from behind me as I walked down the hallway. I turned around to see Bill, a huge grin on his face.

"Hi Bill," I said, smiling back.

"Just wanted to let you know how much we appreciate what your doing for us, I mean, with the case and all," he exclaimed, his shiny, straight teeth glittering.

"No problem," I said, feeling a bit guilty. "Sorry, but I'm late for a meeting, if you'll excuse me."

"Oh, sure, go right on. I was just in here, some trouble at Gringrotts..." he said, his grin not vanishing at all from his face. I turned and began to walk down the hall, feeling even more guilty. It's not my fault, I said to myself over and over, there just isn't anything to work with at the moment.

I twisted the knob on the door and entered to the waiting bunch. Chang looked a bit irritated, but the others smiled and waved at me. I took a seat next to Alicia Spinnet and grabbed a bagel from the center of the table.

"Ahem," Chang said, motioning for me to stop eating.

"Sorry," I whispered, turning red as I put the bagel down.

"Anyways," Chang began as the others chuckled quietly. "Here are the clues and documents on the case at Gringrotts."

"What happened?" I asked, examining a paper Chang had just handed me.

"Just a burglar, well, not an average burglar..." she replied.

"Not average?" Li inquired.

"Well, they didn't just steal money..." Cho continued.

"Then what'd they steal?" I asked once more.

"Paperwork, just paperwork. And just average documents that didn't mean anything to anyone," Spinnet said, reading from the files Cho gave her.

"Paperwork? If they just took some lousy papers, then why are we worrying so much?" I asked, too lazy to actually believe this was a serious case.

"It's to easy," Cho stated, looking through some stuff. "Why would someone take paperwork? Well, it must have been pretty important to them. Couldn't have been stupid, or they wouldn't have gone through so much trouble to get it."

"Trouble?" Spinnet said, looking up from the papers.

"It's not exactly easy to break into Gringotts and leave _no_ trace what so ever, except for this..." Cho exclaimed, taking out a small key.

"How is that a trace?" Lee Jordan said, for the first time speaking up.

"Well, see, this key is _very_ important. Before they closed last night, the one who looks over it, specifically checked to see that it was in place. He even signed his signature to say that it was there! This morning, it wasn't in it's place, and instead left outside of the door it leads too. You see, the door was locked tightly, but a special system told us when it had been opened last. It said 4:13 in the morning. So, investigators checked the room it led to, and nothing was missing, except those old documents."

"But... if the key led to some old documents... then why is it so important?" I asked.

"_That_ is something that Gringotts won't tell us."

"So, there isn't anything we can do about this case..." Li sighed.

"Well, there might be something, if anyone of you are willing to take it up?" Cho said, her eyebrows raised.

Everyone glanced around at each other. This was the kind of case that led to nothing, and would produce no salary what so ever for a detective. No one wanted this job, certainly not me... But then I thought about it. This was the kind of case that would let me take a break from Percy's, and actually have a reason not to work on it.

"I'll do it," I said, raising my hand slightly.

"Great, you can get started on it right away. Here are some files," Cho said, handing me a notebook. I smiled, and happily took them. Spinnet had an expression on, asking me "what the hell are you doing?". I smiled and shoved the notebook into my brief case.

"Well, that'll be all," Cho said, pulling on her coat. Everyone exited the room, and started to walk back down the hallway. I spotted Bill leaving from a small office, and heading towards me.

"Looks like we'll be working together on this Gringotts case. I'll see you tomorrow," I said, winking at his grinning face. At least I had a break from the traumatizing Weasley case, no matter what salary it would produce.  



End file.
